His statement, “known,” excludes what is unknown; that is, it must be known by the number of verses, for example—such as twenty verses, one hundred verses, or whatever else they agree upon.

Issue: Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, condemned those who rely on poems and the like in their exhortations. He said that this leads people to turn away from the Quran and the sunnah, and this is true. Nowadays, there are recordings circulating widely among people which they call Islamic songs. Some contain drums, while others do not. A person’s turning to them and away from the Quran and the sunnah is a serious error. If, however, a person occasionally listens to them when his soul feels weary, there is nothing wrong with that. But making them a habitual practice and taking them along in his car, listening whenever he drives, means that they are leading him to turn away from the Quran and the sunnah.

“If he makes the divorce of her co-wife her bridal gift, it is invalid, and she is entitled to the bridal gift customarily given to a woman of her standing. Whenever the stipulated bridal gift is invalid, the customary bridal gift becomes due.”

His statement, “If he makes the divorce of her co-wife her bridal gift, it is invalid,” refers to the case where she says: “I do not want any money from you; I want my bridal gift to be the divorce of your wife.” This is invalid:

First, because divorcing his wife is neither property nor a benefit for which payment may be contracted.

Second, because it is authentically reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade this, saying: “A woman should not ask for her sister’s divorce so as to empty what is in her bowl.” (1) What the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibited cannot be made into a bridal gift from which one benefits.

Third, al-Rawḍ (2) mentions the hadith: “It is not lawful for a man to marry